Several Gainesville, Georiga residents and businesses, including The Home Depot, are chipping in to support Christian author Jackie Gaskins’s nonprofit mission to open a community youth center called The Remnant. They are preparing for a weekend of work and will have teams of people lending their time and goods to finish renovating the old general store building on Keith Bridge Road

The Home Depot Store is donating almost $6,000 worth of materials and two days of labor over Memorial Day weekend to get Gaskins’s nonprofit building ready for public use. Flooring, sheet rock, fresh paint, and landscaping will be provided and installed by the home improvement supply chain. They will also donate a lawn mower, weed eater, grill, and other items to keep the building well maintained.

Additionally, after driving by the building and learning more about the nonprofit on their website, The Tenth Roof offered to donate a new roof. Several other local residents and businesses have donated their time and money after hearing the story behind the mission and wanting to help renovate what used to be a popular general store in Gainesville for this new cause.

“This is an unbelievable door that God has opened. With the help of The Home Depot and The Tenth Roof, God is helping prepare a place where everyone will be welcomed with open arms and we can freely minister to the community” Gaskins says. “My book, The Four Princesses, began this journey and the fundamental theme that we should use our strengths to serve our community is really coming to life through this community center and all the people chipping in to help.”

Community service remains an important principle behind The Home Depot. The company says, “we recognize that committed and motivated neighbors accomplish an enormous amount of important work in communities across the country. That's why we support these efforts by lending a hand or a hammer . . .”

Gaskins felt pulled to spread the word about community service through a children’s book called The Four Princesses. This mission grew beyond the book and into an organized nonprofit group, ministry, and now, community center. Gaskins and her husband have partnered with three other couples to bring this community dream to life, but it would not have come together without the support of several local companies and individuals.

Gaskins is embodying the lesson of her children's book in her own community through this youth center located at 6805 Keith Bridge Rd, Gainesville, GA 30506, and doors will open June 8 and 9, 2012. To learn more, visit www.1remnant.com.